Iran: UN human rights rapporteur took US bribes

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, reads a part of the Quran, Muslims' holy book, prior to leaving Mehrabad airport en rout to Venezuela to attend Hugo Chavez's funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 7, 2013. Ahmadinejad has left for Caracas to attend the funeral of his Venezuelan ally Hugo Chavez. Ahmadinejad is the head of an Iranian delegation that flew out of Tehran on Thursday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian official has accused the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran of taking bribes from the United States, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Friday.

The report quoted Mohammad Javad Larijani, secretary general of Iran’s high council for human rights, as saying Ahmed Shaheed received money from the U.S. He said that was why he could only parrot U.S. allegations against Iran.

“The money the special rapporteur has received from the U.S. State Department has led to a situation that he cannot write about anything except their anti-Iran desires,” Larijani was quoted as saying, without giving evidence.

Iran has barred Shaheed from Iran since 2011, saying there is no need for a special rapporteur because Iran has always answered questions from the U.N. Human Rights Council.

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Larijani said Iran has provided U.N. with considerable evidence of violations by Shaheed, the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on Iran. He did not provide details.

He said Shaheed behaves like a TV celebrity, appearing on western television stations to make comments against Iran.

“The special rapporteur has no right to take a stance against the country he is assigned to,” Larijani said, charging that in TV interviews, Shaheed “repeats the words of the U.S. and Israel” against Iran.

Shaheed has produced four reports on alleged violations of human rights in Iran. Iran denies the charges.